[3] He participated in the monumentalist movement in Belgium and continued the tradition of the Belgian Romantic-historical school long after it had been abandoned in his country and abroad.

He and his siblings were initially trained by their father who conveyed his interest in Flemish art and language to his children.

[1] After the death of Charles Verlat, Albrecht De Vriendt was appointed in 1891 as director of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp.

Jean-François Portaels and Jean Baptiste van Eycken, both pupils of François-Joseph Navez, helped launch the monumentalism movement in Belgium.

[1] Among his students were Pieter Franciscus Dierckx, Frans Mortelmans, Isidoor Opsomer, Jan Brouwer Bogaerts, Willem van Barend Dort (sr.), Albert Geudens, Gerrit David Gratama, Georges Lemmers, Simon Maris, Johan Sikemeier, Piet Slager (jr.), Julien Stappers, Hendrik Jan Wolter, Jacques Zon and Emile Rommelaere.

[2] Albrecht De Vriendt principal subject matter was the glorious Belgian and Flemish history from the 15th to 17th centuries.

He thus continued the tradition of the Belgian Romantic-historical school who chose as the subject matter of their work important historical events in Belgium's history which were regarded as key to the country's national identity.

[9] An example of his work in this genre is Philip I conferring the Order of the Golden Fleece on his son Charles (1880, Brooklyn Museum) painted on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the independence of Belgium.

De Vriendt used an event from Belgium's glorious to help create the notion of a distinctive heritage and cultural identity for the young Belgian nation.

In this work De Vriendt depicts a lavish court room in which Philip the Handsome (1478–1506) bestows the Order of the Golden Fleece on his one-year-old son, Charles (1500–1558), who had been born in Ghent (De Vriendt's native town).

De Vriendt demonstrates in this work his skill in the rendering of fabrics as well as a sensitivity in depicting the confused expression of the infant Charles.